WEST POINT — The heyday and significance of the National Invitation Tournament is long gone, trumped by the pomp and success of the expanded NCAA tournament, commonly known as the "Big Dance.''

The NCAA tourney and NIT were dueling events through the 1940s, and despite a 1950 edict by the NCAA that qualifying teams should spurn the other tourney, the NIT thrived in popularity well through the 1960s. In fact, former Army coach Bobby Knight turned down an NCAA tourney invitation in 1968 because he preferred playing in the NIT, closer to home, at Madison Square Garden.

When the NCAA began expanding its men's tourney field beyond conference champions, rising to 32 teams in the late 1970s, 48 by 1980 and 64 by 1985, the elite talent pool for the NIT dried up. Fans of front-runners headed for the NCAAs scoffed at the NIT, coming up with derisive nicknames such as, "Not In Tournament,'' "National Insignificant Tournament,'' and "Nobody's Interested Tournament.''

Even though all NIT games are now televised by ESPN, nobody is filling out NIT bracket pools in the office or gathering for NIT championship Thursday.

Like the men's event, the Women's NIT actually predates the NCAA tournament, starting back in 1969. Unlike the men's event, the WNIT is shrouded in obscurity and indifference.

The WNIT field of 64 was announced on a website in the dark of night Monday, and the focus of attention was on the NCAA selections earlier Monday with the ever-present Connecticuts, Baylors, Tennessees and Notre Dames of the women's world.

But the WNIT and NIT have their place. It's an opportunity to extend a season, develop talent with a few more weeks of practice and, with a string of wins, make something of "a lost season,'' at least in how it's perceived against the NCAA tourney.

In other words, the WNIT is a perfect fit for Army. A crushing upset loss to Colgate in the Patriot League quarterfinals will no longer be the headline, rather a footnote to a surprising season. This young Black Knights team was picked to finish fourth in the Patriot League. However, the emergence of freshmen Kelsey Minato and Aimee Oertner and the continued presence of all-star Anna Simmers propelled Army to a share of the regular-season title. That loss to Colgate will not be the end of the story.

Coach Dave Magarity was on the staff of the 2006 Army women's team that qualified for the NCAA tournament, but the Black Knights lost that game, so the school is still looking for its first Division I postseason win.

"This is a huge opportunity,'' said Magarity, who took the Marist men to the 1996 NIT. "To me, to win an NIT game would be a pretty significant accomplishment. And for this group, as young as we are, I think it's really important to understand you can build on that.''

No doubt, especially with a team that has seven freshmen, five sophomores and a junior. And the appearance has to help recruiting for a school that already has enough challenges with stringent academic standards and a military commitment to boot.

Minato said she was unable to enjoy her week off from school because her NCAA basketball dreams took a major hit. With the WNIT game, she would like nothing better than to erase the bad taste of the loss to Colgate.

"We're really fortunate to be playing,'' Minato said. "A lot of teams aren't playing anymore. ... We're hoping to make a run and just kind of regain what we had before the Colgate game.''

Playing in the WNIT has its benefits. Syracuse, with Kingston's Rachel Coffey, has cut its teeth in the postseason the past four years in the WNIT, winning four games a year ago and reaching the semifinals. There's no doubt the Orange rode that momentum to 28 wins this season, a Big East semifinal appearance and their first AP ranking in years.

There are 345 Division I teams in the country — 64 are headed to the NCAA tourney, 64 to the WNIT and 16 more to the Women's Basketball Invitational. That means 201 teams are sitting home, wishing they were still playing.

"We have the opportunity to go further,'' Oertner said, "not just one game but hopefully more than that.''

The WNIT is the next-best-thing to the Big Dance, and in any year March Madness sure beats March Sadness.